City race examines role of auditing

How powerful should Allentown controller be, candidates ask.

The race for Allentown controller isn't merely a contest between a Democratic incumbent and his Republican challenger.

It has become a debate on the role of controller and the way that person should conduct business in office.

Both incumbent Frank J. Concannon and challenger Vic Mazziotti agree the scope of the office's responsibilities needs to be expanded -- allowing the controller to conduct not just financial audits, but performance audits that judge the effectiveness and efficiency of city programs.

However, they have disagreed on the details, including the timing of a ballot question to add the duties to the controller's job description in the city's home rule charter. City solicitors, in two separate opinions, have ruled that the charter does not permit performance audits.

Mayor Roy C. Afflerbach vetoed legislation that would have brought the question before voters in the Nov. 4 election, something Mazziotti wanted.

Concannon favored pushing back the initiative until the May primary. He said the proposed legislation was weak and that further discussion was needed. Mazziotti charges that politics was behind the delay, that Concannon and the mayor believed the question, if on the November ballot, would have helped the Republican's chances of winning.

The controller's race also has a running debate on whether the job needs to be full-time and what portion of the controller's work should be brought to the public's attention.

Mazziotti does not intend to work full-time as a controller and will maintain his full-time job as an account manager for a computer services company.

If elected, Mazziotti will accept only 20 percent of the controller's $49,892 annual salary and none of the city-funded benefits, such as health care. He said he would turn 30 percent of the salary back to the city budget. Combined with benefits and travel, the city's savings would be $140,000 over the four-year term.

With the other 50 percent of his salary, Mazziotti said, he would set up a fund to offer monetary rewards to city employees who come up with the best suggestions to improve productivity. He said he hopes to recruit members of the city administration to help judge the best suggestions and to get them implemented. He also would use the fund to set up a waste, fraud and abuse telephone hotline.

Concannon argues that the job is full-time and accuses Mazziotti of having "an oversized ego."

"Does he think he can accomplish in one day a week what I have been doing for the past four years and what my predecessor did for 24 years?" Concannon asked.

"I don't think he is all that altruistic. There must be some ulterior motive. Could it be a foot in the door for a run for mayor in 2005?"

Though Mazziotti's most pointed political battles this year have been with the Democratic mayor over, for example, a reluctance to release information on Police Department expenditures, the Republican challenger said he has no desire to be mayor.

"I don't have the right skill set for it," Mazziotti said. "I don't have the right personality for it."

Mazziotti questions how much Concannon has done in the past four years other than send himself and office employees on trips to San Francisco and Washington, D.C. No financial audits have been completed.

Concannon counters that financial auditing is not among his official duties, though routine reviews of all city expenditures are. Every month, his office, which includes three employees, reviews 300 checks to city vendors and 1,800 paychecks.

Of checks paid to vendors, at least 3 percent are reviewed in detail to ensure that the payment is proper.

Concannon said he also has to attend many meetings, including City Council and the Pension Board, as well as attend regular sessions with other city officials to approve change orders on construction contracts.

Concannon argues that a $12,000 annual budget for training is not excessive.

"I have introduced training and professional development for everyone in the controller's office, a great step forward," Concannon said. "Mazziotti has labeled such training as "trips,' putting a vicious political spin on my efforts simply because a few of the programs were at distant locations. In today's world, airfare to more distant places is often less expensive that the airfare to nearby places."

Mazziotti proposes to slash the travel and training budget back to $1,000. "My goal is to produce an office that gets the job done and to give the city new resources to improve productivity," Mazziotti said.

The most significant difference between the two candidates might be the way they choose to deal with disputes and controversies. Concannon prefers to work quietly and diplomatically and out of the limelight. Mazziotti is unafraid of confrontation and has been given the nickname "Vicious Vic" among some City Hall employees.